


at last

by breadofthewild



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst, Black Eagles Sylvain Jose Gautier, Character Death, Fire Emblem: Three Houses Blue Lions Route, Gen, Post-Timeskip | War Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:27:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22077691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/breadofthewild/pseuds/breadofthewild
Summary: Five years she's lived without seeing them. Five years she and Felix had lived without him by their side after growing so accustomed to his presence. Five years she's gone through without ever knowing if Sylvain was alive. Five years.Five long years.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius & Ingrid Brandl Galatea & Sylvain Jose Gautier
Comments: 1
Kudos: 16





	at last

**Author's Note:**

> this is based off of https://twitter.com/ExtraVirgin_OO/status/1200374307454537728?s=20 ! aka sylvain sides with the empire and a buncha shit goes down when he sees felix and ingrid on the battlefield because i love to torture myself by separating them, lol
> 
> also i'm aware ingrid doesn't rlly act in character, this was one of the first works i've written with her as a protagonist so welp! lmao oopsie

**"** **やっと、か** **"**

Nobody could sleep the night before their departure to Gronder.

How could they?

The stars were bright that night. Ingrid noticed because when she looked at the sky, all she could think about was how the Empire looked up at the same stars. The thought of finally seeing someone on the battlefield that you once knew, a familiar face amongst your enemies, churned Ingrid's heart.

There was only one person she was thinking of in particular.

Five years ago, Ingrid watched as her best orange-haired friend left the Blue Lions to join the Black Eagles. "The new professor's hot," he had joked, and it took a lot of reprimanding from Ingrid for Sylvain to admit the comment was out of line. In the end, he did end up switching classes, but Ingrid knew it wasn't because of the professor. He needed a new change of pace.

Sylvain was always like that. Running, running, sometimes running away, but always trying to run towards something.

They lost contact with each other after the attack on Garreg Mach. She hadn't personally seen him on the battlefield, but she had heard rumors of former classmates and familiar faces battling it out. Her eyes scanned the outskirts of the monastery atop her pegasus, but she never saw her orange-haired best friend. Perhaps it was the blazing sun that made it hard to find him.

That day, they succeeded in pushing back Edelgard's forces. They protected Garreg Mach. But amongst those forces was her best friend, and Ingrid couldn't help but feel less than celebratory when they finally slayed the last soldier before Edelgard retreated. She couldn't help but feel a pit in her stomach as she watched Edelgard, and beside her, Hubert, drawing back to Enbarr in an attempt to save the lives of their soldiers. She couldn't help but feel empty with the hope that somewhere out there, her best friend could be dead, and it would be at the hands of the church. The hands of her allies.

Felix often told her not to think about it. If she did, she would spiral. She only ever agreed with him, because she knew he was right. Felix was a master at putting aside his emotions, and she trained to do the same. It was her duty as a knight to set aside her personal feelings for the greater good. She wanted to be a knight, and there she was.

A clatter of footsteps from behind caused Ingrid to jump, but it was only Felix. He crossed his arms and sat beside his best friend on the fishing pond deck in silence, his eyes glancing up at the moon. The sphere reflected onto the pond before them, and Ingrid was almost blinded by how bright it was.

"Trouble sleeping?" Ingrid asked quietly, her words tentative. It's been this way for five years now, her and Felix together against the world. She was grateful that she still had at least one friend by her side, a friend that never left despite everything that's happened in their lives. She was also grateful for Dimitri to be there to guide them, two lost souls following the orders of war.

There was just one person missing.

"Something like that," Felix responded, his eyes casting downward to the water now. "You too, I presume?"

"Yes," Ingrid admits. "I...I couldn't sleep."

Silence fills the air around them, and Ingrid shifts her body. Their silence was always comfortable to sit in, a silence you grew used to and even grew to like because it was with a person you were so comfortable with. Felix and Ingrid had been by each other's sides since they were children, they had gone to school together, they had sparred against each other.

They never would've expected to fight a war against each other, though.

Ingrid shakes the unwanted thoughts from her head, the thoughts of Felix leaving her behind too to support Edelgard. She starts to ponder then, ponder on the cause of this war in the first place. Was it just? Did Edelgard know what she had to do to get here? She starts to feel angry then, angry that Edelgard stole one of her best friends and angry that the professor made a sudden appearance that day five years ago. Her blood started to boil, her teeth started to seethe, and her fists started to grow red from balling them so tightly together.

"Ingrid," Felix softly says, his voice as transparent as the water before them. He's always found a way to calm his best friend down, even when she never voiced what she was mad about. He just always found a way to get her back to normal.

Ingrid releases her fists, her palms etched with the marks her fingernails had dug. She rubs her hands together, fidgeting, looking at the rippling water in front of her although nothing had stirred it. She saw her reflection, and Felix's, but she didn't see Sylvain's like she was so used to five years ago.

Felix stands then, a swift movement he perfects with no noise at all. Ingrid follows suit, brushing her clothes off. She stands face-to-face with Felix then, their height difference only a few inches apart. She rests her eyes on her best friend, and for a split second, she sees his brother instead, and her heart churns at the mere thought of it. Ingrid frowns.

"The battlefield is no place for useless thoughts. Get some rest," Felix instructs in his usual uninterested tone, though Ingrid knew he said it out of concern. She grew to distinguish his words of care from his words of genuine disinterest, even if they seemed to sound the same from an outsider.

First Glenn, and now Sylvain—what will she do with herself if someone else were to leave her?

✽

At long last, Gronder Field was in sight.

Ingrid could see it first from her view on her pegasus. Her eyes scanned the perimeter of the field, and as expected, a banner bearing the Adrestian Empire's flag flew in the distance. She could see hundreds of soldiers marching, some masked and some not, but she couldn't find a hint of orange anywhere.

She didn't know if that made her feel better or worse.

"We advance when they attack," Dimitri had instructed days prior. "We play a defensive role so that they cannot get to Garreg Mach. Understood?"

Ingrid understood. They were here to protect, not to attack. They had pushed off one of Edelgard's assaults once before, so she was certain they could do it again. But Gronder Field was vast. There was no way they could protect every inch of it, every part of its border. Even so, Ingrid marched on, mounted on her pegasus, Felix running towards the fray not far behind her.

The Empire had launched their attack. Their go had been forwarded, and their troops started to close in. Dimitri wasted no time in commanding his own troops to advance, Ingrid amongst them. She joined the western flank, equipping her lance gallantly like the knight she always wanted to be. Even though she had fought countless battles before, this one somehow felt new and scary to her.

They never stopped coming. Soldier after soldier assaulted Ingrid with arrows, a common weakness to pegasuses, but she was always ready to face them. She deflected most easily, their whimsy aim too slow for her speed, but she never found a chance to turn on the offensive. Felix was fighting by her side on foot, his sword clashing against axes and lances and even magic alike, his speed striking them down one by one effortlessly. Felix always looked like he was dancing every time he fought, and Ingrid admired that about him.

After what felt like hours, the sun began to set. Their fight had lasted the entire day, drawing out nearly all of Edelgard's troops. Dimitri and his army still stood strong, albeit down a few hundred people. But Edelgard had suffered losses as well, and it seemed like they were at a stalemate. Everyone, people of the Empire and Kingdom's side both, awaited for the Emperor's decision. Would they retreat or advance further?

Ingrid's lance felt heavy in her arms at this point, a feeling she barely reached in battle. She panted heavily as she soothed her pegasus, exhausted from keeping her in the sky. She decided to retreat momentarily to the security of the backlines to regain her strength, sweat dripping from her forehead and seeping under her armor.

"I'm going to advance on foot!" Ingrid shouted over the battle towards Dimitri, who nodded in affirmation. Ingrid dismounted her pegasus and gave it two quick pats on the head, murmuring "You've done well" and "I'll be back." Her energy had mostly been restored, and her feet pounded against the ground as she ran into the onslaught of enemies to Felix's side.

The clang of weapons drowned out any other words that could've been spoken to her. Ingrid focused on nothing else but fighting, never allowing herself to falter for a second. Felix did the same, but she could feel his presence growing weary. They were all tired, all exhausted, but they also all knew that Edelgard wouldn't back down. Not now. Not when she had gotten this far.

The enemies seemed to die down after a few more hits and slashes. Most of the field was cleared out before them, and Ingrid and Felix took a few quick breaths to regain their energy. Ingrid slouched, setting her palms on her knees, panting. It was a position that made her vulnerable, a position she should never be caught pulling, because it gave the enemy many chances to strike. But Ingrid couldn't feel anything, not her legs and not her arms, and her lance slowly slipped from her hands and thudded to the ground. She collapsed alongside it.

"Well, now. I certainly did not expect to see you two here."

In a flash, the color orange grazed Ingrid's vision. Maybe it was the sunset, or the burning sky above, or the fires Edelgard had set aflame in the distance, but there was orange. Everything was orange, and it made Ingrid look up a final time.

Felix was standing in front of her, his stance ready to attack. She recognized this form, something Felix pulled when he was especially angry. He only ever conducted the move under very specific circumstances, and it was rare to see him actively perform it on the battlefield. Through the peeks of Felix's blue hair, she could see the familiar face of a long lost friend, a charismatic but sad smile, a dash of orange hair against the orange sky.

"Stay away," Felix growled, his voice stern and deep. "This is a war. I'll kill you if I must."

Sylvain's eyes flashed between Felix and Ingrid, Ingrid and Felix. One laid in a heap on the ground, the other protecting her with his blade. Sylvain looked on as his best friends stood on the opposite side of the battlefield, a notion he never would've wanted to come true, yet it was all his fault in the end anyway. His eyes closed for a few seconds, steadying himself on his horse. His lance slipped a few inches but he never let it fall.

"Felix. Ingrid. I'm sorry."

Ingrid dug her palms into the ground, using all her might to stand once again. It burned her muscles and killed her legs, but she knew she had to be here for this. A knight would never go down so easily, nor would they ever lose sight of their goal.

Sadly, she knew that now.

Gripping Lúin in her hand, Ingrid fought against every ounce of gravity holding her down to bring herself back to her feet. She had to. She had to do this to face her best friends.

Finally, she met Sylvain's eyes.

Five years she's lived without seeing them. Five years she and Felix had lived without him by their side after growing so accustomed to his presence. Five years she's gone through without ever knowing if Sylvain was alive. Five years.

Five long years.

"Sylvain, you—you're alive," Ingrid breathed, almost a sigh of relief. For a moment, she forgot that one of her best friends stood as an enemy, and she let her guard down. Felix scoffed at her senseless comment, drawing his blade once more.

"So he is. Where have you been all these years, Sylvain? Following Edelgard around like some kind of dog?" Felix spat, his words dripping with venom. Ingrid frowned at the reality of their situation, the childhood and friendship they had been given only to be opposed like this. Ingrid's heart sank.

"Felix, don't—"

"Yes, I guess you're not entirely wrong. And what about you guys? What have you been up to for the last five years?" Sylvain replied back, so normally that it felt like they were having just another casual conversation over dinner. Ingrid hated how nonchalant he sounded, hated how angry Felix sounded, hated how the universe twisted their fates this way. She hated everything in that moment. She hated that she couldn't bring herself to draw her own lance. She hated the skies and how they had to be orange on this day, and she hated how everything they had done in their lives together all amounted to nothing as they stood against each other right here in this moment.

"I'll cut you down," Felix snarled in retaliation, inching closer and closer to Sylvain's horse. Sylvain paid no mind to his threats and only frowned, his eyes flitting between Felix and Ingrid, Ingrid and Felix.

"Hey. Remember that promise we made to each other when we were kids?" Sylvain asked, his voice sad and far. Ingrid knew what he spoke about, even though she was never personally in on the promise.

They promised to stick with each other until the day they died.

"Yes. We were stupid children back then," Felix replied, although Ingrid noticed that he hesitated to. In a flash, a clash of sword against lance rang in her ears, the sight of her two best friends fighting each other and swinging their weapons at the other's neck. Ingrid's eyes welled up with tears, the sight too much to bear, the sound too deafening to ignore, the words too hurtful to forget. She wept, dropping Lúin once again to the ground. Her stomach churned and her heart sank, and she didn't feel like it was beating anymore.

She saw it. She watched as Felix's blade graced against Sylvain's torso, his balance thrown off in just a second. His horse let out a yelp and dashed away from Sylvain, and Sylvain was left on the ground in a pool of blood.

Felix stood still, his arms falling to his sides. Ingrid wiped her tears away roughly, scratching her cheeks from the armor. She took several weak steps to reach Felix, who continued to stare on at his best friend with such deep sadness that it made Ingrid cry more.

She knew she shouldn't be crying. Not on the battlefield, never. It was a knight's duty to remain poised and brave, never faltering for a second. But Ingrid didn't feel like a knight. She felt like a lost girl, someone who had strayed away from her initial path and ended up on the opposite side of the battlefield of her best friend. Was Sylvain right after all? Could she have been in his place, facing her best friends in a war of opposing ambitions? She sobbed into Felix's shoulder, and Felix said nothing about it, because he always hated the idea of chivalry anyhow.

Sylvain breathed, a small breath from the ground he was laying on. He couldn't feel his body anymore, couldn't feel the wound Felix had inflicted, couldn't hear the sobs of Ingrid as she cried about their cruel fates. His lips parted to say just a few last words, ones that Felix and Ingrid will remember for the rest of their lives.

"I'm sorry, guys."

Felix and Ingrid turned to leave, leaving their best friend behind, but never the memory of him.

They'll remember this day forever.


End file.
